General causes

This section lists the grounds on which an employee may be disciplined. There are twelve, ranging from failing to perform duties and insubordination to conduct unbecoming a public employee, conviction of a crime, and a catch-all for other sufficient cause. A charge in an officer's record usually traces back to one or more of these grounds. The twelve fall into rough groups. Several concern how the job gets done: incompetency, inefficiency, failure to perform duties, inability to perform them, and chronic or excessive absenteeism or lateness. Others concern conduct: insubordination, neglect of duty, misuse of public property (motor vehicles included), and conduct unbecoming a public employee, the broadest of the named grounds. A third group ties discipline to outside law: conviction of a crime, discrimination that affects equal employment opportunity (sexual harassment included), federal drug and alcohol rules for employees who operate commercial motor vehicles, and the state residency requirement. The last ground, other sufficient cause, is open-ended: it covers conduct that fits none of the named categories. Note the word may: the section makes these grounds available, and it applies to discipline generally, not just to the major discipline this site's records cover.